Working Across Multiple Time Zones: Tools and Strategies

One person will have to regularly get up too early or stay online too late. These meetings should be an efficient and good use of time, so if you feel they aren’t productive, try scheduling them further apart. Having a placeholder on the calendar for the team to get together will help ensure that everyone is staying on task and has a place to come together as a team and hold each other accountable. If you are open to a global team, make sure your human resources team is aligned because there may be specific requirements if you are employing residents of a foreign country. You can also offer the option for employees to work remotely for a few weeks out of the year and allow them the possibility to log in from anywhere for that time period. Many companies are open to employees being within the same state or within a certain distance of the building.

Imagine a virtual library where documents and resources are neatly categorized, waiting to be explored. This hub becomes the foundation for collaboration, making it easy to access information and encouraging working remotely in a different time zone knowledge sharing. Whether it’s a cloud storage system, a project management platform, or an intranet, this centralized database is a valuable tool for making information easily available to everyone.

Productivity boost

If you have an extremely large team or you host calls with lots of external participants, it’s important to make sure everyone can join. The first national emergency broadcasting system in the U.S. was created in 1951 as a way for the government to use radio networks to warn the nation of an enemy attack during the Cold War. It was further refined and expanded as fears of nuclear attack grew in the 1950s and 60s. The test cannot harm people and is only to verify the national alert system is working.

By clicking on a time, they can reserve it, and Calendar will add it to your calendar and email the meeting attendees. For everyone to understand the different times, use a simple timezone converter tool. You are responsible for sharing any changes in your schedule, whether you are switching shifts or clocking out early. That smartphone in your pocket is good for so much more than Candy Crush, selfies, and Instagram. I’m certainly guilty of spending way too long scrolling through feeds and panging with wanderlust, but it’s time to put that phone to a better use.

Test out split shifts or workdays that cater to different timezones.

If you’re based in your office headquarters, Kelly says you should “remember that your counterparts in most international offices are accustomed to working odd shifts all the time.” A remote worker must be a self-starter who can continue working without someone watching them. They must manage their time and energy wisely, which can be challenging when working from home. Messages are clear and easy to grasp at a glance with just one simple emoji. These are also useful when your teammates don’t all speak the same language. WebEx is able to have hundreds of participants join compared to its competitors.